Autumnal Rambles Among The Scottish MountainsMoffat and its Mountains, &c., in 1850

The most celebrated of our Scottish watering places
are Airthrie, Pitcaithly, Pananich, Strathpeffer, Innerleithen, and
Moffat—in the counties of Stirling, Perth, Aberdeen, Bose, Peebles,
and Dumfries. There are many other mineral springs of less note,
though probably equally salubrious; the only cause of preference
being the interesting scenery in which the above favoured spots are
located. It is not my intention to make any invidious comparison
betwixt the several pretensions of these rival districts, all well
known to me, farther than asserting , that Moffat would not rank
inferior to any of tnem in the estimation of any true lover of
nature.

As regards their medicinal pretensions, I profess
myself much of a sceptic, being firmly convinced that good, common,
mountain water is, in every respect, preferable to them all. Change
of scene and climate, temperate living, relaxation from sedentary
pursuits, company, driving, pedestrianising, &c., seem to me quite
sufficient to account for any improvement in the health of those who
are so eloquent in their praise. My conviction is that the quantity
of water imbibed by visitors would, in many instances, be most
injurious, were it not for the exercise' and variety in which they
are accustomed to indulge when removed from their usual places of
residence. It is well for such as Dr Gully at Malvern, and Dr
Jephson at Leamington, that the public generally entertain different
sentiments from me on this subject, as, were it not for the fond
delusion of invalids, the annual incomes of these far-famed doctors
would be cut off by several thousands.

Towards the close of last month, I met, by
appointment, a much valued friend at Moffat, for the purpose of a
long-projected mountain excursion in that vicinity. The weather
proved favourable, and our gratification even surpassed our
anticipations. There is no town in Scotland better aired, or more
clean and tidy, than Moffat. The principal street is unusually
broad, and contains many excellent lodging-houses, with neat shops
in the under storey; and the neighbourhood, especially towards the
Well, is ornamented with tasteful villas and cottages, the very beau
'ideal of snugness and comfort. Moffat House, in the centre of the
town, though externally somewhat sombre, is magnificent within. The
staircase and drawing-room flat are truly splendid, and the
pleasure-grounds behind are laid out with much taste and elegance,
over which are seen the beautiful pastoral hills between the Annan
and the Evan.

The general style of building in Moffat is peculiar,
and has a very substantial and pleasing appearance. The hard compact
stone natural to the district, being coarsely polished, squared, and
oiled, has a dark grey aspect, and contrasts agreeably with the
white sandstone ribbets at the comers and around the windows. But if
the exterior is becoming, in almost all instances the interior is
equally so, as the inhabitants vie with each other in making their
lodgings as handsome and commodious as their respective means will
admit—even the ldtarest-priced among them being vastly superior to
cottages of similar dimensions in other places, while the inmates
are particularly civil and obliging.

The Caledonian Railway has been of immense advantage
to Moffat, and, in all probability, will greatly add to its
celebrity. The station at Beat-tock is within two miles^ and there
are frequent omnibuses to and from it every day, which are
constantly importing and exporting well-dressed, happy-looking
parties, and thus adding greatly to the interest and liveliness of
the place. But, of all the advantages accruing from the railway, the
reduction in the price of fuel is perhaps the greatest Till it was
opened, the price of coals was such as to be a serious grievance to
the inhabitants. It is now reduced to one-third of what it formerly
was, by a competition in both directions, so that domestic comfort,
in a corresponding ratio, is secured to all ranks of the people. As
regards agriculture, the advantages have also been most striking.
The whole vale of the Annan bears testimony to this. The carriage of
lime, guano, &c., has fertilised the fields throughout the whole
district, and the produce is now exported at a rate, ana with an
expedition, formerly utterly unknown.

It is greatly to be lamented, however, that the cause
of all this prosperity should also be the cause of incalculable loss
to those who promoted it, for it cannot be concealed that the
Caledonian is very far from being a paying concern. Had the
inhabitants of the south of Scotland been content with one line,
whether that by Dumfries, or that by Moffat, there is little doubt
that it would have been a prosperous one; but to expect both of
these to succeed, is out of the question. The Caledonian was the
first sanctified by Parliament, and, it must be confessed, there was
something very like a breach of faith in afterwards sanctioning the
Nithsdale, as it was publicly declared in Parliament, by the
respected chairman of the former line, that u they never would have
harboured an idea of proceeding with it, had it been conceived
possible that both lines would have been carried.” The proprietors
of both are now pretty well aware that they are awkwardly situated:
and we greatly err, if the intelligent people of Nithsdale,
especially in Dumfries, are not now convinced that a feeder to the
Caledonian from Kirkcudbright, through Castles Douglas and Dumfries,
to the vicinity of Lockerbie, would have been unspeakably preferable
to two starving lines, which, in all probability, will be the result
of both having been conceded.

The reading-room, billiard-table, and bowling-green,
are the three principal attractions of that description to Moffat
loungers; but let men do what they will at such places, time, I
suspect, still hangs heavy on their hands during certain portions of
the day, owing to the want of their customary regular employment.
Beading is seldom resorted to to much purpose by water drinkers, any
more than by Oxonians and Cantabs, who, under the imposing
term reading, think ot little else than amusement, when they retire
from their colleges to Wales or the Lakes. The bowling-green seems
in very good order; but it has often surprised me that it should be
so little used. Its close resemblance to curling ought to make it a
favourite game with Scotchmen, and yet in few parts of Scotland is
it much practised; whereas, in England, where curling is all but
unknown, bowling is held in high estimation.

Of late years, the Well has been much improved by a
handsome pavilion, open at one side, in which dancing might be
practised under very interesting circumstances; the music being
accompanied by the bleating of lambs, the crowing of grouse* and
the "wild bravura" of the curlew. Here I cannot omit drawing
particular attention to the extremely neat apartments—a sitting-room
and two bedrooms—belonging to the tenants of the Well. The rooms are
small, but very comfortable, and the young couple who possess them
seem amiable and obliging. The scene there is altogether rural,
mountainous, and fascinating. The bum which rushes past abounds in
cascades and deep pools, seemingly well stored with trout, so that
it astonished me some disciple of the renowned Walton has not
secured this snuggery, especially as the rent is moderate. I am much
mistaken if a skilful angler, after a heavy shower, could not* in
the course of an hour or two, bring home a respectably filled
basket. All thebe suburban places, however, the Bell Craig,
enchanting Dumcreiff, coy, concealed, classic Craigiebum, &c., I
must leave to be more fully discussed by M'Diarmid’s quick and
clever pen, it being now high time I were lifting my eyes to the
mils which induced me to lift my quill upon the present occasion.

The river Annan, towards its source, is mainly
composed of three feeders, which unite about a mile below Moffat.
The Evan is that best known to railway travellers, as they traverse
its whole course from the source, near which it is conveyed over
their heads in an iron channel, to where it loses its name in that
which gives its title to the district. In this glen, it may safely
be affirmed, more gunpowder has been exploded, betwixt sportsmen and
navies, than in an y other of similar dimensions in her Majesty’s
dominions. The lower part of it is ornamented by beautiful woods of
natural birch, especially at Middlegill; and there has recently been
built a very handsome modem-antique residence on the lands of Mr
Butler Johnstone. near the foot of the glen. Annan, properly so
called, is that which passes close to Moffat. It is the smallest of
the three streams, and must be held to retain the name solely out of
courtesy, its course being in the direct line of the main river.
There is also much less variety in it than in the other two. Granton,
however, is a very genteel-looking mansion; and this glen long
maintained its title to celebrity from its containing the mail-road
from Dumfries to Edinburgh, over the noted pass of Erricstane, near
the foot of Hartfell.

Moffat Water is decidedly the most varied and
interesting of all the rival glens, besides being the largest, land
the best adapted for angling. Sequestered Cragieburn is the first
object of much interest after entering the glen. The only objection
to this sweet retreat is, that it is lost to the public, unless they
leave the road, which is close at haild, and poke about among
grottoes and shrubberies, almost at the very door of the
mansion-house. Farther on, after passing through beautiful groves of
oak, larch, and fragrant birch, the charming farm-house of Caplegill
arrests the attention. Here Blackhope Bum joins the Moffat, rushing
from one of the moat rugged, mountainous, and romantic glens in the
south of Scotland. The lofty hills overhanging it are diversified in
their outline, and have all that dry, clean appearance that is most
inviting to an active peaestrian, whose taste prompts him to
investigate nature in her high places.

Above CaplegilL the next object attracting attention
on that side of the valley is the rough savage-looking glen and
ragged heights of Correifron. Then comes the fax-famed gorge or
chasm, containing indisputably the loftiest cascade in her Majesty’s
Britannic dominions, the Grey Mare’s Tail. When seen in perfection,
after “dark Lodi Skene” has been well replenished by its
countless torrents, rushing from White Coomb and the
adjacent mountains, it is, indeed, an astounding spectacle. On
common occasions it descends in that hop-step-and-leap style which
considerably mars the effect But view it when brim fu, spurning all
intermediate obstacles, and “at one bound overleaping all bounds,”
springing about 400 feet, and causing all the surrounding rocks to
quiver—and if you do not quiver also, you have no need of repairing
to Moffat, so far as your nervous system is concerned. Only once
have I seen it in this phrenzied state, and it has left an indelible
impression on my mind. I had on the pre* vious day ascended the
Tweed from Rachan, the Talla, and Gameshope, and gone to the top of
White Coomb, fished round Loch Skene, in which I killed about a
score of trout, averaging herring size, and reposed at night in the
hospitable farmhouse of Polmoodie, men tenanted by a worthy elder of
the Kirk. During the night it rained with excessive violence, which
caused me to return two miles next morning to witness the scene
above described, and certainly I had no cause of regret Farther on,
at the very head of Moffat Water, is the singular spot called Dobb’s
Linn, celebrated by the Ettrick Shepherd, and the solitary cottage
Birkhill, where travellers usually bait their horses. On the north
side of the stream, the steep lofty fells of Polmoodie and Bodsbeck
are the most prominent objects. The drive to the Grey Mare’s Tail is
the favourite pastime of Moffat visitors, and so fashionable has it
become, that the worthy hostess of the Annandale Arms has erected
stabling for her horses near the foot of the faUL It is gratifying
to think that this season, so far as it has gone, has, in posting,
proved more than usually profitable to that enterprising lady.

One of the favourite drives in this vicinity is that
to Lockwood. The oaks here, as well as the ruined castle in the
centre of them, are of very remote antiquity, probably coeval with
those at Cadzow, near Hamilton; though at Cadzow. owing to soil and
climate, the trees have attained much greater dimensions. The
distance from Moffat is about six miles, and the drive may be
agreeably varied by taking the Dumfries road in going, and the
Carlisle road in returning, orvice versa.

The more aspiring visitors, however, ascend Hartfell,
the base of which is about four miles from Moffat. There is,
perhaps, no mountain of its height so easy of ascent. The Spa is
dose to the foot of the hill, and may, without inconvenience, be
visited by all who mean to ascend the mountain. Around the Spa, the
banks are remarkably precipitous not to be rocky, but may be easily
slanten or avoided altogether, by going a little way from the direct
line, so the lames may ride on horseback to the top without the
least danger. The height above the sea is about 3000 feet, and that
of White Coomb 20 or 30 more. These mountains have a very uniform
outline when seen from a distance, Hartfell being at one extremity,
and White Coomb at the other. The distance betwixt the tops may be
five or six miles.

Several years ago, I climbed Hartfell, with a friend,
by the Spa, and the steepest part of the ascent. We were lucky
enough to reach the top, and to have nearly half-an-hour of fair
weather while there, during which we had a very good view as far as
the PenlLands, Cheviots, the Cumberland and Galloway mountains, &c.
In fine weather, I make no doubt Arran, Ben Lomond, and other
Highland mountains, may be within view, as well as, in very
favourable circumstances, the Isle of Man. Before half-an-hour had
elapsed, rain came on, accompanied with thick mist, and, having
resolved to keep the ridge of the high ground the whole way to the
Well, we had great difficulty in preserving anything like a direct
course. Before reaching Moffat, we were nearly as wet as if we had
spent the day the bottom of Loch Skene. Thus ended om pleasure trip.

This season I was more fortunate in ascending Ettrick
Penn and Loch Fell. My friend and 1 left Moffat on horseback, after
an early breakfast We stayed at Caplegill while our horses baited,
the situation of which, as I formerly mentioned, is particularly
interesting. Exactly m front of the dining-room windows, and close
at hand, there is a narrow, lofty, and very steep chasm, down which,
after heavy rain, a cataract is precipitated, which must have a
splendid appearance to those who are dry and snug within. Here we
crossed Moffat Water, passed the ancient farm-steading of Bodsbeck,
and climbed its very steep and rocky hill, without almost the shadow
of a road, or encountering any of the brownies, by whom, according
to the Ettrick Shepherd, it was tenanted in former times. I have a
lively reminiscence of having, some years ago, taken a gig across
this pass, but I would not like to repeat the experiment, and would
caution all against it, as without a very steady horse the danger is
imminent. No sooner, however, is the summit of the hill reached,
than the road becomes excellent for such a high country, owing to
the persevering, indefatigable public spirit of the late Lord
Napier. We descended into the Ettrick not far from its source,
having the Penn exactly in front, with a cluster of other hills of
nearly equal height. We reached this interesting little stream at
the farm-house of Potbum, and rode upwards nearly a mile to Upper
Fawp. Here we crossed the Ettrick, and then rode straight up various
long and steep ascents till we reached the cairn at the top of the
Penn.

To any one climbing the hill from this side, the view
is particularly striking. Towards the south and east, it bursts upon
you all at once, and is very commanding, there being no other hills
in these directions. The Eildon Hills, Cheviots, all the English
border counties, and the distant Kells and Minnigaff Mountains, are
quite within view, while the whole of Liddesdale and Eskdale lie,
mapped as it were, at your feet. From the sides of Ettrick Penn
several silvery streams are seen hurrying on to embrace each other,
and to form the beautiful and stately Esk. Of these, the White Esk,
Devington, and Garwald, are the most conspicuous; while much of the
Dryfe, and peeps of the more distant Black Esk, may also be seen.
Towards the west and north, the view is more limited, owing to the
higher range of mountains, already noticed, at the sources of the
Moffat and Annan; but even in this direction there is much seen that
is very far from being uninteresting. The beautiful green hills of
the Tweed and Yarrow, the favoured haunts of Thomson, Scott, and
many other celebrated bards, must ever be dear to Scotchmen.

On the top of the Penn, we parted from a young
gentleman who had accompanied us from Gaplegill. Loch Fell is
considered the highest point of this Oand may be about 2500 feet
above the sea. s we now directed our course by Wind Fell and
Craigmichan Scaurs. The latter have a very formidable appearance,
and are much resorted to by foxes and birds of prey. The distance
betwixt the Penn and Loch Fell we considered about four miles. The
ground is in various places steep; but all about the top of the Fell
it is so smooth and grassy, that we had an excellent gallop; and in
dry weather a capitalrace-course maybe found on the very summit.
There is a cairn here also, and the view is very much the same with
that recently described. Here we were struck with an appearance
which we were not naturalists enough to comprehend or account for.
In many places there are rings of bright green grass, very different
from the general weather-beaten colour of the sward. These, are
about two feet thick, varying in diameter from twelve feet, to as
many yards, and were in some instances as regular circles as if they
had been mathematically described.

After taking a peep into the Craigmichan Scaurs and
the source of the well-wooded and beautifully secluded Wamphray
water, we returned to the top of Loch Fell, and then descended to
the source of the Dryfe, which issues from the side of this hill as
clear and cool as it is possible to conceive. This is the pure wine
of Nature; and well had it been for our race had no other beverage
been discovered, as I firmly believe one-half of our mortal woes
may, directly or indirectly, be ascribed to intemperance. At this
delicious fountain, we met, by appointment, other two friend$, also
mounted, and here we tarried till they visited the cairn and
returned; after which, we descended the beautiful pastoral glen,
whose stream constantly received accessions, till it became such as
might well gladden the heart of any genuine lover of the gentle art.
We had occasionally very precipitous and boggy ground to encounter,
there being no vestige of a road, so that, at times, we had enough
to do to keep our saddles. After wet weather, many of the places
over which we rode must have been impassable on horseback. On this
occasion, however, the excursion was particularly pleasant; and,
after passing Dryfehead, Finnigill, and Macmaw, we reached the
delightful residence of Shaw, where a hospitable board and kindly
welcome awaited our arrival.

Before returning home, I visited Bumswark in company
with a young friend. This is one of the most interesting spots m
Dumfries-shire. I believe there are few hms of its height, 750 feet,
from which there is a more extensive view. It is singular in its
outline, and is the first object that attracts the attention in
crossing Shapfells from the south, and Erricstane from the north.
Its formal appearance and commanding prospect are by no means its
principal attractions, as it is well known to have been a Roman
encampment in the times of Agricola. We were fortunate enough to
have for our guide a gentleman who designates himself the “Hermit of
Bumswark.” His hermitage is a lovely and comfortable retreat, about
halfway up the hill, embosomed in wood of his own planting. By our
kind and learned friend, we were not only accompanied over the whole
of the hill, but thoroughly indoctrinated in all the mysteries,
&c., 00 that, if hereafter we are not at home in all such matters,
the fault rests entirely with ourselves. After drinking from the
self-same fountain that quenched the thirst of Agricola, we
remounted our steeds, and bade adieu to our worthy host, as I now do
to my courteous reader.

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